No. 18 Texas A&M softball beat Michigan 6-0 on Thursday, Feb. 29 to start its bid in the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California at Anderson Family Field.
Later in the day, the 17-1 Aggies took on 2-14 Long Beach State where the Maroon and White were able to beat the Beach 16-7 to clinch their second win of the day and the event.
For the Beach, they started things off at the top of the first with a single from senior LF Sara Olsen, then junior SS Jacquelyn Bickar reached a fielding error that set up Olson at third. Another single from 1B Sinclair Lawhorn advanced Bickar to second and sent Olson home for the first score of the game.
Up next for Long Beach, junior 3B Jocelyn Vidal reached on a fielder’s choice to second base and advanced Bickar to third. A ground out from junior 2B Carly Robbins advanced Vidal to second and Bickar for the score to make it 2-0.
The last score from the Beach came from Vidal, who scored off of a triple from senior CF Lilyanna Martinez to take a 3-0 lead on A&M.
The bottom of the third had sophomore 2B Amari Harper bat first for the Aggies, and she singled to spark the Aggie’s run in the first. Up next for A&M was senior CF Jazmine Hill, who walked while sending Harper to second.
The hero of Sunday’s game against UTSA, senior 1B Trinity Cannon, doubled to right-center field to send Hill and Harper home to make the score 3-2. Right after, senior C Julia Cottrill homered to left field to send herself and Cannon home to take the lead at 4-3.
After three scores, the Beach was able to strike out one Aggie. However, senior SS Rylen Wiggins homered right after to right field to extend the lead to 5-3.
The second came and went but the third inning had the Aggies extend to 6-3. A pitch hit freshman DP Mya Perez, sending her to first. Then came freshman PR Hailey Golden, who was able to steal second after coming in for Perez.
A single from junior LF Kramer Eschete led to a throwing error that sent her to second and Golden home to make the lead 6-3 for A&M. A ground out from sophomore 3B Kennedy Powell advanced Eschete to third where Harper came in and doubled to left center-field for Eschete to run it home, making it 7-3.
The Aggies were not done yet, as Hill hit a sacrifice fly to advance Harper to third. A walk to first came from Cannon, setting up A&M with an Aggie on first and third. A&M then elected to put in freshman PR Scout Lovell to run it for Cannon.
The Maroon and White wasted no time, as Cottrill homered it to center field for herself, Harper and Lovell to make it into a 10-3 ball game for the Aggies.
The top of the fourth inning had Long Beach get back on the board. It started with junior C Savannah Magadan then Olson walked, advancing Magadan to second. After the walks, coach Trisha Ford opted to make a change at pitcher, taking graduate LHP Shaylee Ackerman out for graduate RHP Brooke Vestal.
Then came Bickar, who singled up the middle to send Magadan home for the score and Olson to third.
The score became 10-5 from senior 1B Cassie Camou hitting a single to right field for Olson to run in the score and advance Bickar to second. The bases were loaded for the Beach to cause even more trouble for the Aggies as Vidal walked to first, advancing Camou to second and Bikar to third.
A walk from sophomore DH Makayla Medellin sent Bickar home to make it 10-6. Ford again had to make a pitching change, taking out Vestal for graduate RHP Emily Leavitt.
Long Beach continued its comeback with another score off a reach on a fielder’s choice to shortstop from Martinez, with now the score being 10-7.
The bottom of the fourth inning started with a walk from Wiggins, who then stole second right after. Another walk came from Perez, who then was able to score with Wiggins to make it 12-7 Aggies off a double from Eschete to left center-field.
A reach from Harper on a fielder’s choice sent her to first, advancing Eschete to third. Harper immediately stole second, with a wild pitch allowing Eschete to score. Another reach, this time from HIll, advanced her to second and sent Harper home for A&M to take the 14-7 lead.
In the sixth, senior DH Paige Lott singled to left center field, setting up Cannon for a homer to right center field to send them both home to end things with a final score of 16-7.
The Maroon and White will go on to face Weber State on Friday, March 1 at 5 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton at 9:30 p.m.
